Written Answers Friday 9 December 2005

Scottish Executive

Bankruptcy (Scotland) Act 1985

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many sequestrations of individuals have been awarded following petitions raised by (a) HM Customs and Excise, (b) the Inland Revenue and (c) HM Revenue and Customs, since it was established in April 2005, in each year since the Bankruptcy (Scotland) Act 1985 came into force.

Hugh Henry: I have asked Gillian Thompson, Chief Executive of Accountant in Bankruptcy to respond. Her response is as follows:

  The following table shows the number of sequestrations awarded annually for each petitioning creditor from the introduction of the Bankruptcy (Scotland) Act 1985 on 1 April 1986. The number of HM Revenue and Customs petitions awarded is from 1 April 2005 to 30 September 2005. The agency is awaiting the decision of the court hearings in respect of petitions lodged by HM Revenue and Customs since 1 October 2005. Therefore, I am unable to determine whether the sequestrations have been awarded or the petitions have been dismissed in these cases.

  Number of Awards of Sequestration

  

 Year
 Inland Revenue
 HM Customs and Excise
 HM Revenue and Customs


 1986
 4
 32
 


 1987
 12
 36
 


 1988
 28
 25
 


 1989
 25
 49
 


 1990
 38
 49
 


 1991
 31
 97
 


 1992
 66
 121
 


 1993
 114
 223
 


 1994
 186
 249
 


 1995
 195
 227
 


 1996
 192
 301
 


 1997
 230
 189
 


 1998
 225
 188
 


 1999
 189
 230
 


 2000
 193
 228
 


 2001
 163
 116
 


 2002
 389
 130
 


 2003
 430
 293
 


 2004
 521
 206
 


 2005
 202
 92
 458



  Source: Accountant in Bankruptcy.

Careers Scotland

Shona Robison (Dundee East) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many people have gained full-time employment through the services of Careers Scotland since 1999.

Allan Wilson: Since its formation in April 2002, Careers Scotland has been part of Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise. The information requested is an operational matter for those organisations.

Crime

Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what success it has had in achieving reductions in the levels of vandalism and graffiti in (a) Scotland and (b) the (i) West Dunbartonshire and (ii) East Dunbartonshire local authority area since 1999 and what targets it set for such reductions in this period.

Hugh Henry: There are no national targets for reducing vandalism and graffiti. From 2005, community planning partnerships are required to prepare anti-social behaviour outcome agreements, based on their anti-social behaviour strategies, which should identify key antisocial behaviour problems within their areas and set out clear and measurable targets for improvement. The first reports to the Executive on progress towards the delivery of strategies and outcome agreements will be in April 2006 and will be published on the Executive website:

  www.antisocialbehaviourscotland.com in early 2006.

Drug Misuse

Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the expenditure on drug-related activities has been in each year since 1998-99 in the (a) West Dunbartonshire and (b) East Dunbartonshire local authority area, broken down into expenditure on (i) crime, (ii) education, (iii) rehabilitation and (iv) treatment.

Hugh Henry: Executive mainstream funding goes to local authorities, NHS boards and police forces which cannot be disaggregated into specific expenditure on drug-related activities. There are various ring-fenced funding streams but most of these are not allocated on a local authority basis The exception is the Community Safety Partnership Award, which has a drugs element. Details of expenditure since 1998-99 are shown in the following table.

  

 
 1998-99
 1999-2000
 2000-01
 2001-02
 2002-03
 2003-04
 2004-05
 2005-06


 East Dunbartonshire
 0
 0
 0
 0
 94,530
 98,507
 96,373
 87,674


 West Dunbartonshire
 0
 0
 0
 18,500
 118,491
 122,875
 120,508 
 108,595

Education

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of school pupils left school in 2005 with no qualifications, broken down by (a) parliamentary constituency and (b) local authority area.

Peter Peacock: Information for 2005 on school leavers with no full course awards at Standard Grade or equivalent is currently being analysed and is due to be published in February 2006.

  Parliamentary constituency and local authority area data for the years 2000-04 have been placed in Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 38277). These tables will be updated when new information is available.

Education

Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive which New Community Schools projects are situated in the (a) East Dunbartonshire and (b) West Dunbartonshire local authority area.

Peter Peacock: All authorities receive funding to support the integrated community school approach. All schools in East and West Dunbartonshire are now involved in delivering integrated children’s services within their neighbourhoods. This will involve a range of multi-agency approaches and projects within school clusters and individual schools. The detail on these projects is not held centrally as it is for authorities and schools to develop approaches to meet local needs.

Education

Dennis Canavan (Falkirk West) (Ind): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-19344 by Peter Peacock on 20 September 2005 and the answer to my supplementary to question S2O-8316 by Peter Peacock on 1 December 2005, what the most recent figures available are in respect of the percentage of S1 and S2 classes in (a) English and (b) mathematics which have more than 20 pupils, broken down by local authority area.

Peter Peacock: I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-19344 on 28 September 2005. Secondary class size data is not routinely collected during the annual school census exercise, but this information was collected separately to establish the number of additional teachers required to meet S1/S2 element of our class size commitment. It is our intention that the class sizes should be reduced from the beginning of school year 2007-08 and we have no plans to collect this information again until September of that year.

  All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at:

  http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/search.wa.

Employment

Shona Robison (Dundee East) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-18222 by Allan Wilson on 10 August 2005, when the employability framework will now be published.

Allan Wilson: We plan to publish the framework early in 2006.

Fire Safety

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many deaths have been caused by fire in buildings since 1999 and in how many instances (a) no smoke alarm being fitted and (b) a faulty or non-working smoke alarm was a contributory factor.

Hugh Henry: The Information requested is given in table 9 of the Statistical Bulletin Criminal Justice Series Fire Statistics Scotland  published by the Scottish Executive in March 2005. A Copy is available in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 35651).

Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002

Margo MacDonald (Lothians) (Ind): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will publish the proceedings of meetings of joint ministerial committees and sub-committees, given that the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 is now operational.

Ms Margaret Curran: Publication of the proceedings of Joint Ministerial Committee (JMC) or sub committee meetings must be agreed jointly by those in attendance and are published by the UK Government in the form of a communiqué on behalf of all parties. These appear on the following website: http://www.dca.gov.uk/constitution/devolution/jmc.htm .

  Paragraph A1.11 of the Memorandum of Understanding and Supplementary Agreements between the UK Government and the devolved administrations describes the remit and structure of the Joint Ministerial Committee. It provides that "the proceedings of each meeting of the JMC will be regarded as confidential by the participants, in order to permit free and candid discussion," and therefore the issues discussed at each meeting are not necessarily disclosed.

  The Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 includes provision to protect information of this nature.

Gaelic

Jim Mather (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers Scottish Gaelic to be an academic subject or a living language.

  The member has provided the following Gaelic translation:

  A dh’fhaighneachd de Riaghaltas na h-Alba ma tha e den bheachd gur e cuspair acadamaigeach a-mhàin no cànain bheò a tha anns a’ Ghàidhlig.

Peter Peacock: The Scottish Executive’s policies for the development of Gaelic are designed to ensure its survival as a living language which also may be used in academic study.

  The Scottish Executive has provided the following translation:

  Tha poileasaidhean Riaghaltas na h-Alba a thaobh leasachadh na Gàidhlig air an dealbh a chum is gum mair a' Ghàidhlig mar chànan beò a dh'fhaodar a chleachdadh cuideachd airson rannsachadh sgoilearach.

Health

Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what strategies it has to tackle (a) coronary heart disease, (b) stroke, (c) diabetes, (d) cancer, (e) smoking-related illnesses and (f) alcohol-related illnesses and what resources have been directed towards addressing each of these.

Mr Andy Kerr: The specific strategies in place to address coronary heart disease, stroke, diabetes, cancer, smoking and alcohol use are:

  A CHD and Stroke Strategy was published in October 2002 and updated in 2004. An additional £40 million over three years was allocated to assist with implementation of the strategy.

  The Scottish Diabetes Framework was published in April 2002. The diabetes programme budget for the period 2003-04 to 2007-08 is £3.8 million.

  Scotland’s cancer strategy Cancer in Scotland: Action for change, published July 2001, set out the strategic direction for improvements in cancer services. An additional £25 million per annum investment has built capacity in diagnostic and treatment services, for example at least 300 additional staff and new equipment.

  A Breath of Fresh Air for Scotland, the first ever Tobacco Action Plan designed specifically for Scotland, was published in January 2004. It covers a wide programme for action including smoking prevention and education, protection and controls and the expansion of high quality smoking cessation services. In addition it also addressed the issue of second-hand smoke. This led to the introduction of the Smoking, Health and Social Care (Scotland) Act 2005, which will see the comprehensive introduction of smoke-free public places in Scotland in March 2006. We will provide an additional £2 million in 2006-07 and £4 million in 2007-08 for smoking cessation, and £6 million over three years for local authority enforcement of the smoking ban.

  The Plan for Action on alcohol problems, published in 2002, sets out the framework of action to reduce alcohol-related harm. An updated plan will be published soon: this will build on progress to date and set out further actions for the next three years. £9.9 million has been allocated to NHS boards in the current financial year to tackle alcohol problems.

  Most health expenditure is allocated to directly to NHS boards and it is their responsibility to ensure that appropriate care is offered to patients in their area. The resources available to the Executive to support specific programmes represent only a small percentage of total expenditure on any condition or service.

Homelessness

Mr Stewart Maxwell (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many children were registered as homeless in each of the last five years, expressed also as a percentage of the total number of children, in each local authority area.

Malcolm Chisholm: The following table shows the numbers of households with children assessed as homeless by local authorities during the years 2002-03, 2003-04 and 2004-05, and the proportion of such households relative to all households with dependent children. The final column for each year shows the total number of children in the households assessed as homeless.

  It is important to note that the information supplied in the tables relates to total number of households who were assessed as homeless during the year rather than the number who were homeless at any one time. For example, at 31 March 2005 there were 4,351 children in 2,373 homeless households with children in temporary accommodation in Scotland.

  No comparable information is available prior to December 2001.

  Households With Dependent Children Assessed As Homeless By Local Authority: 2002-03 To 2004-05

  

 
 2002-03
 2003-04
 2004-05


 
 Number of households
 % of all households with children
 Number of children
 Number of households
 % of all households with children
 Number of children
 Number of households
 % of all households with children
 Number of children


 Scotland
 8,399
 1.36
 14,807
 8,994
 1.47
 15,689
 9,395
 1.55
 15,919


 Aberdeen City
 133
 0.60
 246
 112
 0.51
 196
 117
 0.54
 195


 Aberdeenshire
 174
 0.60
 340
 194
 0.67
 364
 248
 0.87
 434


 Angus
 165
 1.28
 314
 146
 1.15
 277
 135
 1.08
 250


 Argyll and Bute
 115
 1.10
 195
 111
 1.08
 201
 142
 1.40
 267


 Clackmannanshire
 142
 2.26
 261
 135
 2.18
 251
 197
 3.23
 356


 Dumfries and Galloway
 161
 0.94
 299
 184
 1.10
 300
 208
 1.26
 384


 Dundee City
 127
 0.75
 251
 169
 1.02
 337
 118
 0.72
 206


 East Ayrshire
 159
 1.04
 283
 151
 1.00
 288
 193
 1.29
 349


 East Dunbartonshire
 89
 0.64
 152
 125
 0.92
 197
 89
 0.67
 143


 East Lothian
 118
 1.02
 191
 133
 1.15
 202
 137
 1.18
 221


 East Renfrewshire
 38
 0.32
 71
 56
 0.47
 98
 85
 0.72
 132


 Edinburgh, City of
 847
 1.81
 1,494
 849
 1.82
 1,460
 875
 1.89
 1,421


 Eilean Siar
 34
 1.15
 62
 33
 1.15
 61
 54
 1.92
 104


 Falkirk
 322
 1.73
 541
 274
 1.48
 492
 220
 1.19
 383


 Fife
 704
 1.59
 1,270
 762
 1.74
 1,320
 736
 1.69
 1,275


 Glasgow City
 1,672
 2.39
 2,820
 2,024
 2.90
 3,434
 1,967
 2.83
 3,204


 Highland
 222
 0.89
 377
 270
 1.10
 471
 262
 1.09
 444


 Inverclyde
 72
 0.66
 121
 135
 1.27
 237
 118
 1.13
 189


 Midlothian
 163
 1.57
 258
 137
 1.32
 223
 173
 1.68
 283


 Moray
 146
 1.39
 272
 132
 1.28
 255
 144
 1.43
 242


 North Ayrshire
 337
 1.94
 604
 336
 1.97
 587
 304
 1.81
 566


 North Lanarkshire
 573
 1.35
 1,057
 640
 1.53
 1,123
 1,072
 2.58
 1,806


 Orkney
 15
 0.66
 26
 19
 0.84
 38
 30
 1.35
 55


 Perth and Kinross
 249
 1.58
 456
 130
 0.83
 236
 67
 0.43
 119


 Renfrewshire
 222
 1.02
 403
 241
 1.12
 409
 232
 1.10
 394


 Scottish Borders, The
 117
 0.94
 209
 197
 1.60
 338
 131
 1.07
 235


 Shetland
 26
 0.97
 45
 22
 0.83
 37
 33
 1.25
 57


 South Ayrshire
 131
 0.99
 220
 151
 1.16
 243
 151
 1.18
 262


 South Lanarkshire
 424
 1.10
 729
 410
 1.07
 711
 396
 1.05
 661


 Stirling
 150
 1.44
 304
 122
 1.18
 229
 143
 1.39
 233


 West Dunbartonshire
 253
 2.08
 447
 242
 2.03
 448
 312
 2.65
 524


 West Lothian
 299
1.36
 489
 352
1.59
 626
 306
1.38
 525



  Source: HL1 returns submitted by local authorities to Scottish Executive Development Department Analytical Services Division (Housing Statistics). Percentages are calculated using the 2002 based household projections for Scotland.

Homelessness

Mr Stewart Maxwell (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many children are homeless.

Malcolm Chisholm: The numbers of households with children assessed as homeless under the homelessness legislation by local authorities are shown in the reply to S2W-21082 answered on 9 December 2005. It is not possible to ascertain from the data how many children are assessed as homeless at any one point in time. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at:

  http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

Local Government

Mr David Davidson (North East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what areas of local government activity it considers can produce the £325 million efficiency savings referred to in the ministerial statement by the Minister for Finance and Public Service Reform on 23 November 2005 ( Official Report c. 20966).

Mr Tom McCabe: The Scottish Executive considers that there are many areas of activity in Local Government and in other public bodies that could deliver efficiency savings. These include: procurement; process redesign; shared services; application of IT; reduced absence; job redesign and restructuring, and asset management.

NHS Hospitals

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the total cost of providing private patients with care in NHS hospitals has been in each of the last 10 years.

Mr Andy Kerr: The total cost to the NHS of providing private patients with care in NHS hospitals is recharged to these patients by the hospitals responsible. The income recorded by NHS Scotland bodies from private patients in each of the last 10 years is as follows.

  

 Year
£000


 1995-96
 3,234


 1996-97
 3,604


 1997-98
 4,410


 1998-99
 5,780


 1999-2000
 4,487


 2000-01
 4,467


 2001-02
 4,511


 2002-03
 5,499


 2003-04
 6,803


 2004-05
 7,291

National Health Service

Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many procedures have been carried out at the Golden Jubilee Hospital in Clydebank in each year since it has been within the NHS.

Mr Andy Kerr: Information on the number of procedures undertaken by the Golden Jubilee National Hospital since 1 July 2002 is provided in the table. The Hospital is currently working to a target of undertaking 25,000 procedures in 2005-06.

  

 
 Number of Procedures


 1 July 2002 to 31 March 2003
 6,149


 Year ending 31 March 2004
 13,043


 Year ending 31 March 2005
 18,509



  Source: Golden Jubilee National Hospital.

National Health Service

Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive Scottish Executive what targets have been set for the number of operations to be carried out at the Golden Jubilee Hospital in Clydebank over the next five years.

Mr Andy Kerr: In Fair to all, personal to each , published in December 2004, I set out our plans to expand activity at the Golden Jubilee National Hospital so that by 2007-08, it will undertake 28,000 procedures a year.

National Parks

Eleanor Scott (Highlands and Islands) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive how comments received in response to the consultation on the siting of a coastal and marine national park will be taken into account and whether a summary of these comments will be published together with a rationale for the site selection which sets out how these comments have been taken into account.

Ross Finnie: I have asked Scottish Natural Heritage to report to Scottish ministers in early 2006 with an initial assessment of potential candidate areas for a coastal and marine national park. SNH is working closely with stakeholders in considering Scotland’s coastal and marine environment against assessment criteria, including the three conditions for National Park proposals set out in the National Parks (Scotland) Act 2000.

  I envisage that there would be a full Executive consultation with all stakeholder interests following receipt of the SNH report including the preparation of a report in the usual way on the consultation responses to provide an analysis of the views submitted. The SNH report and the views received in response to the consultation will be fully considered prior to the Scottish ministers making any statutory proposal to establish a National Park under the provisions of the National Park (Scotland) Act 2000.

National Parks

Eleanor Scott (Highlands and Islands) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive why there are no representatives on the Coastal and Marine National Parks stakeholder group of local community groups that have already expressed an interest in coastal and marine national parks and what discussions are being held with such groups to ensure that their views are taken into account in the consultation process.

Ross Finnie: I understand that the purpose of Scottish Natural Heritage’s (SNH) national stakeholder group is to provide a forum for debate on the policy and legal issues that I have asked for its advice on. It is also acting as a sounding board on the general process used for identifying possible areas rather than on the specific areas themselves. Membership of this group was therefore focussed on representation from national bodies.

  Scottish Natural Heritage has provided a number of opportunities for other groups to participate. In August, they wrote to over 300 organisations who had declared an interest in this issue alerting them to the work which SNH had been asked to undertake and seeking views. There are also links on the SNH website and a message board which enable those with an interest to register their views. In addition SNH has recently held two national seminars to discuss the work which I understand were attended by over 150 people.

  Scottish Natural Heritage have also responded to requests from national and local stakeholders who have requested bilateral meetings. Scottish Natural Heritage were represented at the recent Hebridean Marine National Park Partnership annual general meeting, and the Mull and Iona Community Trust annual general meeting. I understand that they also plan to meet with the Fair Isle Marine Environment and Tourism Initiative and the Scottish Sustainable Marine Environment Initiative committee in Shetland in the near future. Most of these organisations - plus the Wester Ross Alliance and the Arisaig Community Council - have attended the national seminars.

  I have asked for SNH’s report by March 2006, and this will be followed by a full Executive consultation with stakeholder interest, including local community groups that have expressed an interest in coastal and marine national parks.

New Deal

Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many people in the (a) West Dunbartonshire and (b) East Dunbartonshire local authority area have found employment through the New Deal.

Allan Wilson: Four thousand, four hundred and fifty people in West Dunbartonshire and 1,780 people in East Dunbartonshire have found employment through New Deal for Young people, New Deal 25+, New Deal 50+ and New Deal for Lone Parents. Figures for New Deal for Disabled People and New Deal for Partners are not available at local authority level.

Parliamentary Questions

Mrs Margaret Ewing (Moray) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive when it will provide a substantive answer to parliamentary question S2W-19753 which received a holding reply on 5 November 2005.

Nicol Stephen: The answer to parliamentary question S2W-19753 was provided on 25 November 2005.

Poverty

Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what action is being taken to reduce the proportion of working-age people living on low income in the (a) West Dunbartonshire and (b) East Dunbartonshire local authority area.

Malcolm Chisholm: The Scottish Executive is committed to tackling poverty and deprivation wherever it is found in Scotland. We recognise, however, that poverty is only partly about low income; it also encompasses a lack of opportunity, low aspirations, barriers to participating in social and economic life, and lack of access to appropriate and affordable public services.

  That is why, through our Closing the Opportunity Gap (CtOG) approach, we want to:

  - prevent individuals and families from falling into poverty;

  - provide routes out of poverty for individuals and families;

  - sustain individuals and families in a lifestyle free from poverty.

  We aim to reduce the number of people living on low incomes across Scotland by co-ordinating action across all of the Executive’s departments and agencies, and by our partners.

  Increasing the chances of sustained employment for those not in work is central to our approach. We are developing an employability framework that aims to increase the number of people moving into sustained work, as well as to tackle the issue of low paid, low skilled work. We aim to publish the framework early in the new year.

  West Dunbartonshire is one of the seven local authority areas targeted under CtOG target A, which aims to reduce the number of workless people dependent on Department of Work and Pensions benefits in the areas with the highest levels of employment deprivation by 2007 and 2010. The numerical targets agreed locally by the Community Planning Partnership will be announced shortly.

  In West Dunbartonshire, the Community Planning Partnership (CPP) has been allocated a total of £13.368 million from the Community Regeneration Fund (CRF) for the period 2005-06 to 2007-08, and 17 of the projects receiving funding from this source are tackling worklessness.

  Communities Scotland’s Wider Role fund also contributes to seven projects in West Dunbartonshire that are employment related or linked to benefits maximisation.

  East Dunbartonshire CPP is developing a number of projects related to worklessness from its CRF allocation of £828,000 over the next three years.

Prison Service

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answers to questions S2W-15435 and S2W-17042 by Cathy Jamieson on 14 April and 17 June 2005, whether it is the Scottish Prison Service Controller based in HM Prison Kilmarnock or Premier Prison Services Ltd which has ultimate responsibility for reporting breaches of contract by the company for its operations at the prison.

Cathy Jamieson: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) to respond. His response is as follows:

  The contract places the onus on the contractor, requiring them to inform SPS of any failures to meet contractual commitments.

  In addition the SPS Controller team based at HM Prison Kilmarnock is responsible for monitoring the performance of the contractor.

  The responsibility for reporting such incidents is detailed in the contract which can be viewed at www.sps.gov.uk.

Prison Service

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-20864 by Cathy Jamieson on 29 November 2005, why no disciplinary action or penalty was imposed on HM Prison Kilmarnock.

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-20864 by Cathy Jamieson on 29 November 2005, whether the reason for no disciplinary action or penalty being imposed on HM Prison Kilmarnock was because the position was one of failure to meet a particular contractual commitment and not a result of a breach of contract.

Cathy Jamieson: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) to respond. His response is as follows:

  Liquidated damages are the remedy specified in the contract for the late opening of the prison. The contract can be viewed on the SPS website at www.sps.gov.uk.

Regulation of Care

Dr Elaine Murray (Dumfries) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how the views of carers are represented on the board of the Scottish Commission for the Regulation of Care.

Lewis Macdonald: Ministers are responsible under the Regulation of Care (Scotland) Act 2001 for the appointment of Care Commission board members. The act requires that the board has at least two members who either use or have used care services or are carers for persons who use or have used those services. The current board includes four such members.

Renewable Energy

Shiona Baird (North East Scotland) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive how many responses it received indicating (a) support for and (b) objections to the Lewis Windpower Ltd (AMEC/British Energy) wind farm proposal before Comhairle nan Eilean Siar reached a view on whether to support the project.

Allan Wilson: Prior to Comhairle nan Eilean Siar submitting its consultation response the Executive recorded nine responses of support and 4,228 objections to the Lewis Windpower proposal.

School Meals

Frances Curran (West of Scotland) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive which local authority areas were not included in HM Inspectorate of Education’s progress report, Monitoring the Implementation of Hungry for Success: A Whole School Approach to School Meals in Scotland.

Peter Peacock: The report was based on inspections carried out in all local authority areas except Orkney, Shetland, Stirling, Renfrewshire and East Renfrewshire. Further inspections have now been scheduled to ensure that at least one school will have been inspected in each local authority area by March 2006.

  In addition, the HMIE nutritional associate assessors have met with all 32 local authorities to discuss progress in implementing Hungry for Success.

School Meals

Frances Curran (West of Scotland) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive on what basis primary schools and special schools were selected for inclusion in HM Inspectorate of Education’s progress report, Monitoring the Implementation of Hungry for Success: A Whole School Approach to School Meals in Scotland.

Peter Peacock: As stated in paragraph 1.1 of the HM Inspectorate of Education report, Nutritional Associate Assessors carried out inspections in a sample of schools which were included in the general inspection programme over the period in question. The schools were chosen to give a spread of size, geographical location and percentage of pupils entitled to free school meals. Practical considerations, such as the timing of general inspections, also affected which schools it was possible to inspect in the time available.

School Meals

Frances Curran (West of Scotland) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many additional (a) catering and (b) supervisory staff have been employed by each local authority since January 2003 to help implement Hungry for Success programmes in schools.

Peter Peacock: The Executive does not hold information on catering and supervisory staff employed by local authorities. It would in any case be difficult to conclude, from data on employment of such staff, to what extent any changes have been due to the impact of Hungry for Success. In many cases, the implementation of Hungry for Success has involved a partnership between existing staff, including teachers, health professionals and caterers. All local authorities have trained their catering staff in the principles of Hungry for Success, and almost all have a Hungry for Success coordinator.

  We are aware that local authorities have taken a range of measures to support local implementation, and some of these have involved the recruitment of additional staff, depending on local needs. For example, Dundee City Council are working towards employing eating for health assistants in all of their schools for three hours per day to promote healthy choices, and to supervise pupils in the dining room at lunch time.

School Meals

Frances Curran (West of Scotland) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many additional (a) trained nutritionists and (b) catering professionals have been employed by each local authority since January 2003 to promote and evaluate the implementation of Hungry for Success programmes in schools.

Peter Peacock: The Executive does not hold information on the number of trained nutritionists and catering professionals employed by local authorities. It would in any case be difficult to conclude, from this data, to what extent any changes have been due to the impact of Hungry for Success.

  All local authorities have either already created or are currently setting up steering groups to drive and monitor the implementation of Hungry for Success. Steering groups may specifically employ a nutritionist or dietician to provide expert advice, or seek input from existing health board staff. In addition, many local authorities have appointed or seconded staff with specialist skills, and many Hungry for Success Coordinators have extensive relevant experience. Steering groups should be building in evaluation of their own implementation of Hungry for Success as part of their action plans.

School Meals

Frances Curran (West of Scotland) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many primary schools have incorporated the principles of the Hungry for Success initiative into their school improvement plans.

Peter Peacock: Detailed information on school improvement plans is not held centrally.

  The on-going programme of inspections of Hungry for Success (carried out by HM Inspectorate of Education nutritional assessors) shows that the majority of schools are including implementation of Hungry for Success as part of their priorities for improvement. If schools are not making sufficient progress in implementing Hungry for Success, inspectors would suggest appropriate action, and that action would become part of a plan for improvement.

  In addition, all schools in Scotland (primary and secondary) must be health promoting by December 2007, and in order to attain this status schools should incorporate nutrition and healthy eating into their wider school development plans.

School Meals

Frances Curran (West of Scotland) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive what measures it will take to tackle instances of unsatisfactory practices referred to in HM Inspectorate of Education’s (HMIE) progress report, Monitoring the Implementation of Hungry for Success: A Whole School Approach to School Meals in Scotland , in respect of reducing and eliminating stigma and within what timescales.

Peter Peacock: Paragraph 10.7 of the report sets out clearly how unsatisfactory practices are being tackled:

  "In addition to providing oral feedback to schools inspected, nutritional associate assessors have offered oral feedback on the findings of school inspections to the relevant local authorities. As part of HM Inspectorate of Education follow-through procedures, they are also providing more detailed support, where appropriate, to help schools and local authorities address areas where further development is required. Where inspection reports contain main points for action relating to Hungry for Success, progress made by schools and local authorities in addressing these points for action will, in due course, also be monitored as part of HMIE follow-through procedures."

  The Health Promoting Schools Unit, in conjunction with HMIE and NHS Health Scotland, have an important role in spreading good practice on issues such as minimising stigma via the Hungry for Success coordinators network. 90% of local authorities now operate cashless systems in at least some of their schools.

School Meals

Frances Curran (West of Scotland) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive what assessment it has carried out of the proportion of primary school children who bring packed lunches to school, rather than choosing a school meal, and what plans it has to make school meals more attractive and more accessible to those pupils.

Frances Curran (West of Scotland) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive what measures it will take to ensure that all schools evaluate their school meals and food provision rigorously and regularly, in light of the findings of HM Inspectorate of Education’s progress report, Monitoring the Implementation of Hungry for Success: A Whole School Approach to School Meals in Scotland.

Peter Peacock: The report of the expert panel on school meals recognised the importance of self-evaluation by schools and local authorities to complement monitoring by the Scottish Executive. A set of bench marks is being prepared for schools and, more particularly, local authorities to use as a self-evaluation tool. It is hoped that this will help schools and local authorities to confirm good practice and identify areas for improvement. It is the responsibility of each education authority to work with their schools in implementing Hungry for Success, and some local authorities have prepared their own self-evaluation toolkits to facilitate this process.

Peter Peacock: According to the last School Meals Survey, 46.6% of primary school children took school meals on the survey date. However, we do not collect information on the number of pupils who take packed lunches.

  Hungry for Success contains a range of measures designed to make the school meals and the dining environment more attractive. Paragraph 2.3 of the HM Inspectorate of Education interim report on the implementation of Hungry for Success comments that

  "Salad bars and fruit were presented attractively and the foods looked appetising. Pupils thought that food was much healthier and less greasy." Section 8 of the report notes a range of ways in which schools had made the dining environment more attractive, including using high quality displays of pupils’ artwork to promote school lunches and healthy choices, improving queuing systems, or investing in improved service points, crockery or dining room furniture.

  In addition, the report found that in several schools, staff had introduced positive initiatives to encourage parents to provide balanced selections of food in packed lunches which reflected the recommended nutrient standards.

Scottish Enterprise

Margaret Jamieson (Kilmarnock and Loudoun) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what directions it has given to Scottish Enterprise in respect of including elected representatives at all levels as stakeholders in the consultation being undertaken on Scottish Enterprise’s reorganisation.

Nicol Stephen: The Scottish Executive believes that any proposals for change should have broad support from the business and wider community. I have indicated that I expect Scottish Enterprise to involve Parliament in developing its current proposals and I understand a meeting has been arranged with the Enterprise and Culture Committee.

  Finally, "How Good is Our School" provides a structure for schools to carry out self evaluation against the national priorities, which include action on health promotion in schools.

Scottish Executive Staff

Mrs Margaret Ewing (Moray) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many of its security passes have been reported (a) lost and (b) stolen by staff since 2001.

Mr Tom McCabe: The Scottish Executive Security Branch hold security pass statistics dating back to 1 April 2002. From that date, until 22 November 2005, a total of 11,360 security passes have been issued including new and replacement passes for Scottish Executive staff and non-Scottish Executive personnel such as secondees, consultants and contractors. In that time, 702 passes have been reported lost and 110 reported stolen.

Waste Management

Mrs Margaret Ewing (Moray) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many businesses have produced hazardous waste since 1999 and how many businesses it estimates will produce hazardous waste in each year from 2006 to 2010.

Ross Finnie: This specific information is not held centrally. Information published by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency on hazardous or special waste is available in its Waste Data Digest which may be found at:

  http://www.sepa.org.uk/nws/data/data_digest.htm.

Waste Management

Mrs Margaret Ewing (Moray) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how much hazardous waste has been illegally dumped since 1999 and how many prosecutions resulted, broken down by parliamentary constituency area.

Ross Finnie: Information about the amount of hazardous waste illegally dumped is not held centrally. There have been no prosecutions since 1999 leading to penalties under section 33 (9) of the Environmental Protection Act, which is the provision dealing specifically with the illegal deposit of hazardous waste. This does not mean, however, that those responsible for illegal deposits of hazardous waste have not been prosecuted under wider provisions of that act.